Gratsu Week
by Divinion
Summary: A series of one-shots for the Gratsu 2019 Week/Bingo Current Prompt: Pet Summary: In a rare and quiet moment, Gray and Natsu find an awkward kindness


Gratsu Week; Prompt 'Pet'  
Characters: Gray Fullbuster & Natsu Dragneel  
Themes: Fluffy fluff fluff  
Summary: In a rare and quiet moment, Gray and Natsu find an awkward kindness

* * *

Shadows curled around limbs, chests and pink spiked hair. The beside lamp shone a soft light over sweat, skin and damp, dark hair. Silence ruled over them both.

Both pillows were taken with a head on each, eyes gently closed, and faces turned towards the ceiling. Their breathing was still a little elevated, waiting for the rising and falling of their chests to calm in tense anticipation. Soon, they would get up, gather their clothes, and throw each other an insult or two. They'd laugh, shove one another, and then the fighting would begin again. The only difference between now and a few weeks earlier was that sometimes the fighting turned more… _physical_.

There was a quiet shuffle against the crinkled sheets. A subtle movement. A sign, one that had come far too early. A domino effect of one movement to another, to another, to sitting up, to standing up, to leaving the room, to getting on with their lives. Until the next time.

Gray wasn't ready. He was determined to keep his body as still as physically possible. The bed was safe, these four walls were calming and the rhythmic breathing beside him was a blissfully sweet sound. Adrenaline still coursed his body, pheromones in the air, salty sweat against his lips. It was far too early to break the spell.

Suddenly, he flinched. Natsu's hand was just above him, a finger drifting just in front of his eye. His entire body tensed, watching intently as it brushed against his forehead and pushed back his sticky, dark fringe.

"What are you doing?" Gray asked breathlessly. It was too soon for stupid pranks and childish attacks. Even Natsu should have understood the sanctity of this moment.

The Dragon Slayer looked like a deer caught in the headlights. The shuffling must have been Natsu turning over, now lying on his side to watch Gray intently with those slanted eyes he'd always mocked. His skin was still sweaty, cheeks still flushed and only seeming to grow pinker as he stumbled over his words. It was enough to make Gray wonder what attraction he'd ever had to the idiot, while simultaneously feeling an overwhelming urge to pin him into another kiss.

"Uh…" he stammered. "I'm… you know…"

"…"

"… petting?"

Gray laughed. It was so unexpected, sounded so _ridiculous,_ he couldn't stop the sudden outburst.

"_Petting!?"_

"You're ruining it!" Natsu snarled at him, pulling away his hand suddenly.

"I'm not the one who called it _petting_! What the hell does that even mean?!" Gray asked, feeling the laughter growing just slightly more forced. He pointedly kept lying on his back, his eyes staring up to the ceiling and only occasionally glancing back to acknowledge Natsu's existence. He deserved that much, but… _petting_? Even with any other description, the action sounded unpleasant. Soft, gentle, romantic, not at all like their erotic 'accidents'.

"I don't know! But you're ruined it now!"

Gray didn't look back to him for that one. He didn't want to see that adorable pout he could hear in those words, imagining him holding the pillow stubbornly like a teddy-bear that could quickly double as a punching bag when needed.

This silence felt heavier. Forced. The first movement had happened. They'd done this arrangement enough times to know that meant life moved on. It was just pure stubbornness that kept them both pinned to the bed.

And then Gray suddenly felt something else. The softest touch, a completely foreign mark against his shoulder. He glanced down, seeing the dragon slayer had pressed his lips to his pale skin. There was a strangely warm tingle where he had been, though nothing as vicious as a mark or bite.

Just a kiss?

"What are-?"

He stopped himself from asking. He was going to ruin something again.

Natsu looked up at him, a softness in his eyes the Ice Maker wasn't used to. It was like watching a night horizon turn into day. It was captivating enough to make him resist breaking the gentleness, though terrifying enough so that he couldn't turn away.

Natsu shuffled again, this time closer. His head moved onto the other pillow, directly in front of Gray's stunned gaze. He wore a warm and lazy smile, oblivious to the cold fear he was spreading. He almost seemed proud of it. And as he shifted closer, his hand moved close to where it was before. Fingertips again starting to dance, from Gray's cheekbones to pushing away the hair from his Galuna scar.

It was a struggle for Gray just to breathe. He was convinced he hadn't blinked since Natsu had pressed that soft kiss on his shoulder, hadn't lost eye contact even as Natsu's gaze had roamed every part of his face. Natsu was acting strange. Close. That could only mean one thing. He wouldn't let himself be defeated by a challenge, not by any means, but that didn't mean he wanted to go again so soon.

"Natsu… I'm-I'm kind of tired…" he breathed.

"Me too," Natsu told him softly, closing his eyes and shifting a couple of inches closer.

In just two words, Gray was convinced. This wasn't another way to trick his lips onto his. It wasn't a way to prank him, insult him, laugh at him. It felt strangely alien. And… nice?

Gray let himself lean just a little closer. His forehead connected against Natsu's much quicker than he realised, but that was only returned by a slightly wider smile from his partner. It was hard to let himself smile, but as Gray felt the forehead against his, nose brushing against nose, and breath mingling with breath, it all felt a little easier. A little calmer, softer, and quieter.

He could stay like this for a while longer.


End file.
